IRON MOUNTAIN DATA CENTERS
15 %, global capacity will double in five years and quadruple in 10 . With generative AI in the mix , CAGR could rise as high as 25 %, tripling capacity in five years and increasing it up to tenfold in a decade . That is more than double the current growth rate . Enterprises , AI startups and Cloud Service Providers are already racing to secure data centre capacity for their workloads , with the hyperscale clouds leading the pack . This is happening fast . Analyst TD Cowen reported “ a tsunami of AI demand ” with 2.1GW of data centre leases signed in the US , a fifth of current total supply , in Q2 of 2023 .
A mountain of e-waste The second AI-generated challenge is at the back end ; a stream of used equipment . AI is driving faster server innovation , particularly in chip design , and the latest AI chips such as the Nvidia H100 have had so many billions advanced against their manufacture and are in such short supply that they are even being used as debt collateral and made available for rent . While this refresh rate will be key to improving efficiency it will also – in tandem with the rise in capacity – increase the scale of e-waste .
E-waste is one of the fastest-growing waste streams in the world . By 2030 , annual e-waste production is on track to reach a staggering 75 million metric tonnes . Global e-waste is thought to hold roughly US $ 60 billion-worth of raw materials such as gold ,
What if Data Security , Serviceability , Safety and Satisfaction Could all be Achieved by Design ?
Explore how Mission Critical facility types are becoming defining elements of architectural design .
166 December 2023